Wuerffel Trophy honors Uriah Leiataua as 2019 nominee

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – The Wuerffel Trophy, presented by Chick-fil-A Foundation, announced BYU defensive lineman Uriah Leiataua as one of 98 official nominees for the award Friday.

The Wuerffel Trophy, known as "College Football's Premier Award for Community Service," is presented each February in Fort Walton Beach.  Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel from the University of Florida, the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.

Leiataua has played in 22 career games for the Cougars while assisting in BYU's True Blue Hero program, celebrating local community members that are enduring various hardships including terminal illness and other struggles.

The 6-foot-4, 255-pounder from Compton, California, also works with the program's Autism Awareness Football Camp and is a leader on the team in organizing intermediate and high school visits that help students understand how they can be successful athletically and academically as well as members of the community.

Leiataua, a business major, helps organize hospital visits and team Christmas caroling around the holidays. 

He also served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Apia, Samoa.

Leiataua is also a nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, the annual award given to college football players for the impact they make off the field.